A seven-member CNI-led observer mission to the Palestinian Legislative Council elections on January 25th, 2006 including Ambassadors Edward Peck and Robert Keeley, included stays in all five neighboring countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The delegation met with top government officials and leading opposition figures in Palestine and neighboring Arab countries to assess the accelerated development of democratic institutions and their impact on U.S. long-term interests in the region.
Bassam Kantar, a cofounder of the Lebanese Green Party, is the brother Samir Kantar, the longest-held Lebanese detainee in Israeli captivity.
Sayed Hassan Nasrallah is Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, which won representation to the Lebanese Parliament, carrying 90% of the vote in Southern Lebanon.